


4. Dark Sides: Rise of the Anacondrai

by RebelFanja



Series: Dark Side of Destiny [4]
Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Evil Wu - Freeform, F/M, Good Garmadon - Freeform, Role Reversal, Roleswap, Slow Burn, Tournament of elements, don't worry :), it gets worse :), season 4, the slow burns are slowly burning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:01:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27353893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RebelFanja/pseuds/RebelFanja
Summary: Master Chen is on the loose, and the two teams of ninja have formed a tentative alliance in order to hunt him down. With the help of the other Elemental Masters, they just might stand a chance. However, as the stakes grow higher and lines between the ninja are blurred, the question remains of who will be left standing at the end of it all?
Relationships: Cole/Seliel (Ninjago), Kai/Skylor (Ninjago), Nya/Jay Walker, P.I.X.A.L./Zane (Ninjago)
Series: Dark Side of Destiny [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1488686
Comments: 6
Kudos: 31





	1. Why Can't We Be Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Women's Day, y'all! Here's to all my beautiful, powerful queens out there. Even if you're not feeling very powerful today, you're still loved just for being you! <3

Jay wiped his forehead on his sleeve. The jungle was uncomfortably humid, and he was sweating right through his ninja gi. He leaned against the side of the Roto Jet, his hands sore from prying apart bits of rusted machinery all day.

Now that the Elemental Masters were free, they had a lot more resources to work on the jet. He and Karlof had been tasked with fixing it up, replacing some of the less reliable parts from the factory, adding fresh missiles, and making sure that nothing had been damaged in the fight.

A short distance away, Kai’s sister was checking the diagnostics on a few of Chen’s vehicles that they had helped themselves to. Jay folded his arms and leaned over the jet’s wing, fascinated by the ease with which she worked. He didn’t think he had ever met a girl besides his own mother who had such knowledge of mechanics. He would have liked to ask her about where she had learned so much, but she had already made it pretty clear that she wasn’t in the mood to talk.

Nya had hardly spoken a word to Jay all morning, preferring to speak to Karlof over him. In fact, Nya had all but ignored him since their last, brief conversation right before Chen captured everybody. Even her hard-headed fuchsia friend had been friendlier than she was. Sure, Nya was probably anxious for her missing teammate, but Jay still couldn’t shake the feeling that her coldness was directed specifically at him.

“Bluuueee ninjaaaa!” Karlof sing-songed. “Karlof could really use your help down here!”

Jay snapped out of his thoughts as he realized he had been staring at Nya – like a total _creep_ – when he was supposed to be helping Karlof. He knelt down beneath the jet’s underbelly and handed Karlof the replacement part they had found, trading it for an old burnt-out chip.

“That should do it,” Karlof said as he carefully put the piece in place. Jay hadn’t expected the Metal Master to be able to handle such delicate work, but he had insisted on doing it himself, seeing as he had prior experience. “Roto Jet is now as good as new.” He scooted out from under the jet and sat up, clapping his hand together to wipe the gunk off.

Jay brightened. “We’re done? Hmm, well in that case, I guess we should find something else to do now, so we can make ourselves useful. Hey, Nya! Need any help?”

“I’m good,” she said without looking up.

Jay wilted, trying not to feel too disappointed.

The sound of rustling foliage made him turn. Garmadon was just emerging from the jungle. Jay tensed, conscious of the nunchucks hanging from his belt. But Garmadon’s eyes barely brushed over Jay as he surveyed the clearing.

“Have you made any progress?”

“Roto Jet is complete,” Karlof reported.

The old man nodded. “Good. The others have removed all options for Chen to escape, though we haven’t found a lead on him yet. I believe Pixal was brainstorming a plan when I left, so I should hope it won’t be too much longer. You two had better get started helping Nya so we can go after him as soon as we’re ready.”

“I can do it on my own,” Nya said brusquely.

“I’m well aware of your ability,” Garmadon answered calmly. “But we don’t just need it done, we need it done fast. We have to be able to move as soon as we have a plan. I don’t think I need to remind you what’s at stake.”

Nya frowned, but didn’t argue any more.

“I have to report back to the others, but let us know if you need anything else.” Jay watched him head back into the jungle. Sometimes he still doubted the decision to team up with Garmadon and his ninja. He didn’t trust Garmadon in the slightest, and he half expected that any day he would order his ninja to snatch the golden weapons when they weren’t looking. But defeating Chen seemed like the more pressing issue, and Jay trusted Cole’s judgment. Still, he wondered what Wu would say if he was there. He wondered if Wu was okay.

“You heard him,” Karlof said. “Cars will not fix themselves.”

Jay followed his lead and took to a small rover. He hopped into the seat and began running through all the basic controls, looking for any faults. It was all pretty routine, and his mind began to wander again. He couldn't help but glance at Nya a few times. She worked silently and efficiently, as used to the process as he was. He wondered what she was thinking about.

“. . . Penny for your thoughts?” he ventured.

She was partially obscured by the raised hood of a buggy. She remained silent for a while and he thought that this time she really was going to flat-out ignore him. But finally she said, “A lot of these trucks are outdated, but this one looks as if it’s really taken a beating. I’m not sure how functional it will be.”

“Mind if I take a look?”

She nodded him over. Jay inspected the engine and came to the same conclusion. “I see what you mean, it's in pretty bad shape. Question is, will it work? You want me to start her up?”

“Be my guest.”

As soon as Jay got it going the engine rattled noisily, and he hastily turned it back off. He had to wonder if and where they could find a new one. They really needed to salvage as many of the vehicles as they could.

Nya seemed to read his mind. “Well, we know what the problem is, but we don’t know where they would have kept their spare parts. We could go back down to the factory and we might be able to scrounge something up, but it’s doubtful they would have a whole engine just lying around.”

Jay shrugged. “I guess we’ll just have to write this one off, then. It might come in handy if any of the other buggies are damaged, though.”

Nya crossed her arms. “I still hate to give up on it. We need all we can get.” She ran her fingers through the fine strands of her hair. “Maybe when we’re finished here I’ll ask Seliel if there’s time to look.”

"You seem like you know your stuff," Jay observed. “You don’t happen to dabble in the engineering arts, do you?”

Nya reached up and closed the hood of the buggy. “I might.”

“Really? You ever made any cool gizmos?” Jay had never met someone with similar interests before. And such a nice girl, no less. Zane was usually the only one who showed any interest in Jay’s inventions, but he wasn’t as interested in the same things Jay was.

“Don’t forget, we’re on a time crunch,” Nya reminded him. “Even after we’re done here, there’s probably still lots more that needs to be done.”

“I can work while I talk! Besides, we’re supposed to be pooling our resources. We might be able to come up with something worthwhile together!”

Nya opened her mouth to say something, then closed it again. She seemed to reconsider before she finally said, “Okay, I’ve got a question for you: that glider used back at the Lightning ruins . . .” Jay remembered that day well, when he had first got his nunchucks. That seemed like a lifetime ago. He was again made conscious of the nunchucks on his belt, humming with a low buzz from the electric charge that held them together. Their truce was the only thing keeping Nya from trying to take them right now.

“I hate to admit this,” she continued, “but my friend and I have been trying to replicate something similar. Problem is, we haven’t been able to come up with a design strong enough to keep a person in the air for long. So how’d you do it?”

Jay grinned and tried not to get ahead of himself as he remembered all the trials it had taken to perfect his glider. “Okay, so . . . you probably accounted for wind speed, right?”

Nya scowled.

Jay inwardly cringed. “Yeah, of course. I guess you’d have to be stupid not to. I mean – I don’t think you’re stupid or anything –”

Nya shook her head. “Forget it. We don’t need to be trading secrets, anyway.”

Jay scrambled for something to say. She was about to turn away when he blurted out, “Titanium or steel?”

Nya hesitated, but he could guess at how badly she wanted a solution. “We used titanium at first, since it’s more lightweight. But steel was stronger and, frankly easier to come by. We . . . had a lot of failed models,” she admitted.

Jay nodded. “You’re on the right track. But what you need is a balance between strength and weight. Did you hollow out the rods?”

Nya nodded. Now that he had her attention, Jay could see the spark of intrigue in her eye that supercharged every inventor, scientist, and explorer. “We did a little researched and found out that birds have hollow bones. We figured that might help with the weight.”

“Okay, but bird bones aren’t really hollow, right? They’ve got, like, these criss-crossing things for extra support.” He crossed his hands as an example. “Like how a building needs columns to hold up the ceiling.”

“So . . . you put support beams in the rods?”

“I really just added gaps every few millimeters. But it worked.”

Nya raised an eyebrow. “Wouldn’t that be really time-consuming?”

Jay shrugged. “Maybe it's not ideal for mass production, but it was good enough for the time-being. Convenience has never really been my strong suit, anyway." He chuckled. "But that never stopped me before.”

Nya gave him a half smile and he grinned. But the smile only lasted a moment, and then she was somber again. “I guess I owe you now.”

He waved a hand dismissively. “Don’t worry about it. It’s not about getting even. Just think of it as a tip from one friend to another.”

There was that frown again, and in a flash Nya was completely closed off from him. Jay knew they hadn't been on great terms the last time they saw each other, but they had been on opposite sides, so of course they were going to butt heads. He didn't blame her for blasting him with water, so why was she still so upset with him?

“We should get back to work,” she said. “Karlof won’t appreciate it if he realizes we’ve gotten off-topic.” With that, she went to find another truck to work on.

Jay watched her go, wondering if this was worth all the digging and rejecting.

 _These things just take time,_ he told himself.

Then, _What things?_

Jay shook his head. Was he taking this too far? There couldn’t be anything wrong with extending the hand of friendship to a rival, but Nya clearly had some very different ideas about the world, or she wouldn’t be with Garmadon in the first place.

Friendship was good, friendship was fine. Jay could always use more friends, especially inventing friends. And if he could win her over to their side, then that was all the better. He just had to keep trying, keep being nice to her, and show her that she was wrong about Sensei Wu and all of them. Then they would be friends in no time. 


	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And . . . we're back!
> 
> Yeah, so I took a lot longer break than I originally planned to. Part of that was because I needed to step away from the story for a while. It can get kind of tiring when you're working on the same thing for so long. But thank you all so much for your patience and encouragement, I really appreciate you guys so much!
> 
> Now let's get back into it! The two ninja teams have formed an alliance along with the other Elemental Masters, Master Wu has gone silent, and Chen has Skylor and is loose somewhere on the island. We're basically on ep 8 of season four (Day of the Dragon) if that helps. The second half of this chapter is from the preview that I originally posted so you might have already read that part. I'm really excited to continue this story with you guys, I've got a lot of fun stuff in store! ;)

The quay in front of Chen's palace was alive with activity as the Elemental Alliance tore down, in mere minutes, everything that Master Chen had spent years building up. Seliel was pleasantly surprised by how well the alliance was getting along so far. All the Elemental Masters were working together to seize Chen's palace, questioning the wait staff and rounding up any of the cultists that hadn't already fled with their master. Even the truce with Wu's ninja still held strong.

Seliel and the Earth Ninja had organized groups to take on the various tasks of guarding the prisoners, searching for Chen, and destroying all possible means of transportation off the island. Seliel was on transport duty. She watched with satisfaction as Chen's blimp sunk to the ground, air seeping out with a long sigh. The snake insignia on the balloon warped as it collapsed flat on the ground. Cheers rose up around her, and she grinned. All this sabotage was really good for morale.

"Now the ferry!" she ordered and Bolobo waved his staff. Vines of seaweed curled around the vessel, and in seconds, the framework was squeezed into splinters and the ship went under.

Just then, she saw Cole returning with his search party. She gestured to Pixal and they regrouped with Cole, Kai, and Zane for a progress update.

"The palace and sleeping quarters are all clear," Cole reported. "But still no sign of Chen and Clouse."

"And Skylor?" Seliel asked, getting to the only point that she cared about.

"No sign of her," Kai answered.

"They can't have gotten far," Zane said.

Cole nodded. "He's right. With no way off this island, it's only a matter of time."

"Even so, the island is very large," Pixal pointed out. "If we want to locate Chen soon, we will need to find a way to narrow our search."

"What do you suggest?" Cole asked.

Pixal began to explain the beginnings of a plan in nearly unintelligible scientific terms and Seliel had to suppress a laugh at the look on Cole's face. Clearly he was in over his head, but Zane at least seemed to follow her.

In just the short time that they had been working together, Seliel was surprised at how well the other ninja had cooperated so far. Even though Seliel and Cole were both acting as leaders of their respective teams, they hadn't butted heads too much yet. He was actually quite considerate and listened to her suggestions rather than demanding his own way, as she had expected. But she didn't want to get too comfortable around him or his friends. There was always the chance that they could turn at any moment.

Sensei Garmadon approached Seliel, and she left Cole to try and figure out whatever Pixal's plan was.

"I'm proud of you girls," he said. "You've done what the original Elemental Masters never could: stick together. And despite your differences you've even managed to cooperate with your rivals. But you must not rest on your laurels, for your guard is down when you sleep."

"I know. I'm still concerned that those boys are up to something." Seliel sighed. "But I can't blame them for everything. I blame myself for letting Chen take Skylor. I rested on my laurels then, as well. I was too confident with winning to see that my friend needed me."

"A lesson to learn from," Sensei Garmadon agreed. "But Chen has always been crafty. Don't be too hard on yourself."

Seliel thought that he was too forgiving, but she wasn't about to argue with him. "Pixal thinks she might have a way to find them."

"Good. Chen's men are behaving themselves for now. Although I can't say the same for Lloyd."

Seliel spotted the boy making faces at the prisoners that were tied up near the gate. Seliel laughed to herself as his mother came and snatched him away by the back of his green gi.

"Still, I feel kind of bad for him," she said. "He must be restless."

"It serves him right for running away," Garmadon said grumpily.

Seliel laughed again and wondered if they had any menial tasks for Lloyd to do that would keep him occupied.

"I was just about to check on Nya's progress with the land vehicles," he said, "but I wanted to see what else you might need help with."

"Nothing much right now, we're just finishing up out here. But if you see trouble, let me know right away." Garmadon smiled in amusement, and Seliel realized too late that she was giving orders to her own sensei. "I mean . . . please?"

"I'll keep you updated." He put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "But I mean what I said, Seliel. I'm proud of you."

"Thank you, Sensei." She wanted to agree with him. But she didn't think she could feel proud of _herself_ until she made things right.

* * *

The rush of the waterfall screening the cavern echoed off the stone walls. Sunlight filtered through the cascade, illuminating the dim cave and the handful of soldier's that milled about taking inventory and posting guards. Skylor's dad's army had been reduced to almost nothing. There was so little left of the empire he had created on this little island, but he still wasn't going to give up. He was preparing to leave this place as soon as possible, to escape from the Elemental Alliance with nothing more than a Blade Copter and a fraction of his army. He was nothing if not resilient.

As for Skylor, she had long since stopped struggling against the chains that held her to a large stone. It was probably safer for everyone this way. She could still remember the fear in Lloyd's eyes and her father's pleading voice when she held the Staff of Elements. Its power had nearly consumed her. She had come so killing her father out of anger. She couldn't forget that feeling, and she couldn't forget what she had almost done.

Clear-headed, she could still say that she loved her father, just as she always had. Despite all his faults, she couldn't ignore the years she had known Chen as a man who cared for her and supported her, even if only when it was convenient. Being away from him and having someone like Sensei Garmadon to compare him to, it had become clearer how selfish her father truly was. But he still loved her, just as she still loved him.

Chains clinked as she shifted on her feet, and she conceded that, perhaps the handcuffs were taking it a little too far. After all, obtaining power had always been one of her father's top priorities, and it had often come between them. Yet, even when she fell recklessly from his blimp, he had been there to save her.

And she had almost killed him for it.

Skylor knew that she wasn't normally the killing type, but she worried about what it said about her if her judgment was so easily overcome by the staff's influence. Perhaps the person she thought she was had only been a façade. Perhaps there was really a dark, power-hungry beast lurking just beneath the surface that she hadn't before known existed. Was it possible that her father had been like her before he got his first taste of true power?

Skylor leaned back, resting her head against the damp rock and closed her eyes. The steady rumble of the falls might have soothed her, but her fearful thoughts kept her on edge.

Since the start of the tournament, Skylor's friends had been telling her that she wasn't like her father. But what if they were wrong? What if she was actually so much like him that she had tricked them into thinking she was different?

The more Skylor thought about it, the more she could remember times when she had sought power over others. When she had joined the team on their first mission, she had immediately tried to assume command. She had given orders without hardly any regard for their well-being. And during the tournament, she had manipulated Kai just to win one round. And now she had tried to kill her own father in the name of vengeance.

Maybe she really was as bad as her father.

Maybe she was worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick note: CheezPretzel wrote a short drabble about Jay based on this AU, entitled "Strength in All Forms." You can find it right here on AO3. So if you can't get enough of this story and want more, go look it up, it's a really great read! I've read a lot of her other stories as well and I'm a big fan.


End file.
